1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for determining when an individual is operating or has operated a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Upwards of 10 million individuals illegally drive in the United States after their licenses have been administratively suspended or revoked. While illegally driving, these offenders kill thousands of individuals and injure tens of thousands of innocent people each year. Although attempts have been made, at the present time, there is no effective technology to deter and facilitate the apprehension of these illegal drivers.
In 1998 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funded the development of a technology called the Problem Driver Detection System (PDDS), which consists of wrist mounted transmitters for individuals with suspended/revoked licenses. The proposed devices transmit coded signals to roadside police cruisers as the illegal driver is going by, which will cause a picture of the offender to appear on a monitor in the cruiser. The purpose of the PDDS is to deter illegal driving by proactively apprehending individuals driving with suspended/revoked licenses. However, the PDDSs have a number of drawbacks, which have prevented their adoption.
For example, the PDDS system does not distinguish between passengers and drivers wearing the devices. This will result in unacceptable false positive indications that an individual is illegally driving the vehicle. In addition, police will not be able to visually match the picture shown in the monitor in the cruiser with the driver going by in foul weather or at night.
Another drawback of the PDDS is that it requires the installation of dedicated antennas in police cruisers to receive the signals from the wrist mounted sensors. This will require the expense of procurement and installation of the antennas.
The PDDS system also requires the frequent installation/removal of electronic images of offenders in the cruiser's computer memory.
Moreover, the PDDS may be relatively easy to defeat or circumvent by:
(1) Operating the vehicle outside the local jurisdiction where the police cars are modified to receive the signal and where the pictures of the offenders are not loaded in the memory of the computers of the police vehicles;
(2) Blocking, degrading or corrupting the signal from the wrist sensor with shielding material; and
(3) Operating the vehicle in known times and circumstances when the PDDS will not work, such as at night and in foul weather.
The PDDS will also fail when police officers in the roadside cruiser are performing other tasks such as making and receiving dispatch calls. The PDDS requires the use of a modified police cruiser and will not work with an officer on roadside patrol on a motorcycle. The PDDS requires dedicated police manpower, which frequently must compete with higher priority police manpower requirements.
Another technology called “Driver-ID,” is currently in limited use in the State of Michigan. In this program, the offender wears a court ordered ankle mounted transmitter. The vehicles the offender “might” drive are outfitted with a system called an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) installed under their dashboards. When the IID receives a signal transmitted by the ankle sensor of the individual in the driver's seat, it will disable the vehicle from starting.
Driver-ID technology is in very limited use because it has a number of drawbacks. First, it motivates wearers of the sensors to obtain and drive vehicles without IIDs, which is relatively easy to do. Second, it requires an infrastructure of trained and certified technicians to install and remove the IIDs. Third, it is easy to defeat.
This technology may be defeated or circumvented by:
(1) The offender obtaining and driving vehicles without IIDs;
(2) The offender blocking or degrading the signal from the ankle transmitter with shielding material placed over or around the IID or ankle transmitter; or
(3) The offender placing his/her foot in such a manner that the IID falsely determines it is on the passenger's foot and not the driver's foot.
Thus, in view of the above-described deficiencies with the state-of-the-art, there is a need for new and improved technology to deter and facilitate the apprehension of illegal drivers.